


Using You

by ekaheida



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste is the Ultimate Wingman, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Chloe is a wlw we all been knew, Depression, Gen, He's a mess fellas, Hormones, Hot Mess Adrien Agreste, I'm giving Luka as much of a personality as I can pls be gentle., Ladybug is lowkey mean in this and it might be slightly ooc, Lots of made up Akuma's that r kind of bad but so are the new ones from the show so shrug., Male-Female Friendship, Recovery, Supportive Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Uncanny Valley, horror imagery, in this house we SUPPORT adrigami rights even tho they aint datin, so is Kagami - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:14:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23995099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ekaheida/pseuds/ekaheida
Summary: Growing up is hard for anyone. But for Adrien Agreste, his growing up is constantly monitored by the media, and if that wasn't enough to drive the nails into his coffin, rumors are being spread about him at school. Even his friends won't believe his side of things now. Isn't highschool supposed to be the best time of your life?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Kagami Tsurugi, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Chloé Bourgeois/Sabrina Raincomprix, Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 4
Kudos: 34





	1. Beachboy

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is basically.. me rlly wanting to expand on Chloe and Adrien's friendship along with some dark spooky parallels to growing up and stuff. I'm bad at notes. Who let me write this? Please read the tags.

Winter break wasn’t something that Adrien Agreste typically enjoyed. It was always the break that he spent cooped up inside with relatively nothing to do except distract himself until school started again. He was entirely, utterly, and completely bored. Even keeping up with the Ladyblog had gotten a little dull. 

There hadn’t been a single akuma since break started, which was the biggest bummer of all, really. Patrolling was fun, yes, but running the same routes and bumping into literally nothing was starting to wear down on him more than he thought it would. 

Needless to say, he was stuck at home, and for once, very much alone. His aunt requested to meet with his father in a restaurant instead of at their home. Adrien vividly remembered how furious his father was over the phone, glad that it wasn’t directed at him. 

He wondered of course, what his aunt could possibly want to talk to his father about this time. He didn’t have much time to think about it though- 

“ADRIKINS.”

He was on the phone with Chloe, which as of lately, was becoming less and less unusual. 

“Huh? I’m listening, just making a little bit of lunch.”

“Is it applesauce again?” 

“Maybe it is, maybe it’s cinnamon applesauce-”

Chloe scoffed, and Adrien could imagine her eye roll despite not seeing her face. It made him smile as he put the small plastic bowl of saucy apple into the microwave. 

One constant throughout winter break had been Chloe. She called him once a day and they often talked for three hours at a time. Not that Adrien was complaining, he enjoyed the conversation, the technical company, more than anything else. It was odd, normally he had these calls with Nino but lately.. He had them with Chloe. 

“Man cannot survive on applesauce alone, Adrien! You need real food, rice, pasta, something!” 

“I have a shoot coming up, I have to look lithe limber, and strikingly handsome,” he took out his food when the microwave beeped and stood near the sink, mixing the cinnamon in with a small metal spoon, “Can’t be bloated from simple carbs.”

Chloe mumbled a poorly hidden ‘stupid’ into the speaker and groaned at him. Adrien couldn’t help but laugh as he said, 

“Once it’s over, I swear to god I’m gonna eat like- a whole pizza or something.” 

“Ah, that’ll be the day. Adrien Agreste eating a whole pizza, it’ll be a fuckin’ headline.”

Adrien tried hard to hide his laughter but he couldn’t, “God, it probably would be.”

They were both quiet for a time, Adrien taking the time to actually eat his meager lunch and stare through his kitchen window. The ground was lightly dusted with powdery snow. The garden always looked fairytale like in winter. Maybe he would go outside, just for a little while. 

“Well, when you decide it’s time to eat a whole pizza, you should come over and we can eat a whole pizza together. I’m so bored.”

“Don’t you have people to bother, Chloe?” 

“Sabrina’s on vacation with her family, remember?” She snapped and then sighed. 

Adrien could tell she was lonely without her best friend, even if she wouldn’t really say that out loud. He hummed and tapped his spoon against the side of his bowl, 

“Besides, you’re the people I’ve decided to bother today. I know you don’t have plans, so come over. It can be a sleepover. We used to have them all the time when we were kids. Your dad can’t possibly say no.” 

“He possibly very well can say no, you know how he is,” Adrien sighed, and thought about it. If he spent the night with Chloe, it probably wouldn’t be that big of a deal. Like she said, they’ve been having sleepovers since they were little kids. In theory, it wasn’t a bad idea.

So he sighed, looking at the oven clock. 

His father would probably be home in the next two hours, he’d better text Nathalie if he wanted a direct answer. 

“I’ll just ask daddy to invite you to stay the night through your father. He can’t possibly say no.”

Adrien laughed, scraping the rest of his applesauce out of his bowl, “Yeah, if you do it that way, I don’t think he will.”

Chloe purred, “Absolutely perfect. Oh, this will be so much fun, I promise.” 

He nodded, knowing Chloe wouldn’t see it. “Yeah, I think it will be. What’re we gonna do, party games?”

“I was thinking about face masks and truth or dare, actually.”

He hummed, “Sounds like a plan. Want me to bring anything specific from my place?”

Adrien made quick work of washing out the bowl, putting it on a drying rack along with the spoon as he exited the kitchen and went back up the stairs to his bedroom. 

“Do you still have those fluffy pajama pants? The baby blue ones?”

“Yeah? I don’t think they fit anymore.”

“Perfect,” Chloe chirped, “I’ll be taking them.” 

“You’re ridiculous.” 

“Yup, utterly- oh and by the way, Adrikins?”

Adrien closed his door behind him, “Yeah?” 

“Don’t you have fencing today?”

“Oh no.”

“Good luck! Bye-bye’s,” Chloe hung up and Adrien scrambled to get himself together. Quickly getting changed, shoving appropriate shoes on, and grabbing his fencing bag. 

He completely forgot that he had fencing practice, this was what he got for staying up so late. The days had started to bleed together and there he was, sprinting out of his house and to practice. 

Adrien got there with minutes to spare, quickly changing into his uniform and heading down to the floor. He was immediately greeted by Kagami with a small wave, and he waved back. 

“You lost track of time, didn’t you?”

Adrien laughed, “Yeah, I guess I did. It was.. kind of weird morning,” not inherently, but at the same time. Talking to Chloe on the phone every day had been weird but was slowly becoming normal. Dare he think, kind of nice, actually. 

She smiled slightly at him and gestured to the floor and they walked together quietly before Kagami turned her head towards the stands. 

“When did Marinette start bringing Luka to practices?” She asked, and Adrien looked up a little too quickly and.. 

Well, there they both were, knee to knee, watching. Marinette waved at him so he offered a smile and a wave back, leaning back down towards Kagami’s ear, “I dunno? Maybe he’s also interested in fencing?”

“Marinette only comes to watch you practice.” 

“That’s not true! She says she comes because fencing inspires her.”

Kagami gave him a look, a looky look. A quiet, sharp look, and he felt her emotions through his bones. He stood up straight again and smiled. 

“Maybe she brought Luka to help inspire him too, he plays guitar, y’know.”

“I know, it’s just odd that they’re cozied up and both here. It’s probably nothing, we should start practicing before D'Argencourt realizes we’re not.”

“Right.. Right,” he nodded and put his sabre on, Kagami following suit as they walked onto the floor to properly practice. 

Practice went by fairly quickly, maybe because Adrien wasn’t really as focused on it as he should be. All he could think about was what Kagami said. Did Marinette really only come to watch him? It couldn’t be that, she tried to join the team last year, it had to be something else. Fencing could be incredibly inspirational, Adrien would know. 

He couldn’t even gain advantage on Kagami, which wasn’t abnormal it was just.. Difficult to keep up. Getting his head in the game wasn’t even the problem here, it was like his movements in general were slower. He’d been on the defense the entire match before D’Argencourt called it, stepping between them. 

“I think it’s time we take five, no?”

Adrien nodded, taking his sabre off and sighing,he raked a hand through his hair. 

“Adrien?”

“Sir?” 

“Can we speak to the side?”

He nodded again, and D’Argencourt led him closer to the bleachers, arms folded behind his back before finally speaking. 

“I know your main focus is modeling, but lately you’ve been a little slow during practices.”

Ouch, nod politely, keep listening. 

“And you are a growing boy, you’ve gotten quite a deal taller these last few months but I must ask. Are you eating enough to keep up with everything you’re doing? Fencing is a competitive sport and you must get proper nutrition.” 

Adrien laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, “Sorry for worrying you, I do have a shoot coming up in a few days and it’s important to look trim. I guess I kinda ate less without realizing it.” 

Which was mostly true. Honestly, he just sucked at keeping up with a proper eating schedule when he was left to his own devices. Especially with his father out of the house for a change. That and there was more recent pressure on him because well- 

He was growing, changing. Going through puberty, you know.. The normal. But he could hear what his photographers were saying. 

He waved those thoughts out of his mind and smiled at D’Argencourt, “I’ll eat a healthy dinner to make up for it. 

D’Argencourt smiled at him, patting him on the shoulder, “Good, it’s important to take care of yourself, especially in such an interesting time. Now then back to work.”

Adrien nodded and walked back onto the floor, shaking his head and pulling his sabre back down. Maybe he should eat more. Was he really growing that quickly?

He thought maybe he was done growing, he was already pretty tall. What if he got too tall? Could models be too tall? He’d google it later. He thought all of this to himself while picking his foil back up and making his way back towards Kagami. 

Sometimes he felt bad, it was just that Kagami was his only true equal partner, at least out of everyone there. It was better to practice their skills against each other. He wished he could pair up with the other fencers fairly..

“You didn’t eat well before practice.”

“You notice everything,” Adrien said, checking his footing before straightening back up.

Kagami nodded, “Of course I do, and D’Argencourt was reminding you to eat more before practice-” 

“I’m gonna work on it, it’s just been difficult lately with my schedule. I promise I’m gonna eat a nice big dinner when I get home. Rice or some-”

It was that moment, that very moment where Adrien was discussing something as trivial as what he was going to make himself for dinner (probably) when the ground shook around them. Several people screamed, and Adrien quickly grabbed Kagami, letting her lean against him for support. 

“What’s going on?”

“An akuma attack?” 

Adrien sighed through his nose. Hawkmoth couldn’t go one week without pulling something, could he? He looked up towards the bleachers, making sure Marinette and Luka were okay but they were- nowhere. Oh no. 

“Marinette and Luka are gone,” he realized, letting go of Kagami. His legs moved before the rest of him was thinking properly. “I’m gonna go find them! Stay here, okay?”

“Adrien- don’t!” 

“I got it!” He yelled back again, ripping his sabre off and letting it hit the floor. Could they have been taken when everything was shaking? They could’ve slipped. He checked around the bleachers first, and after clearing that they weren’t there, and deciding that this was a job for Chat Noir, he bolted back towards the locker rooms. 

He shut the door behind him and looked up through the windows. The sky was a purple, hazy hue, and just along the distance he could see her- the akuma’s victim. A woman dressed in starry black, weilding some sort of staff with a star head. That could very well be where the akuma was hidden but there was no sign of Ladybug, not yet. Good. 

“Plagg!” He called, and the divine, chaotic being whipped out of his locker at the speed of light, grinning maniacally. Adrien grinned back, extending his hand towards the ceiling, 

“Claws out!” 

His transformation finished in a crackle of black and green, and he vaulted his way out of the window with his staff, soaring over the parisian rooftops. He needed to analyze the situation first. Ladybug still wasn’t around and he could use any sense of an upper hand he could get. And the best way to do that was talking and observing. 

He swung in on his staff, sliding down it as he stood far away enough from the dark mistress of night that he wouldn’t get hurt- probably. 

“Let me guess, miss your chance to wish on a shooting star?”

She turned her gaze upon him, white, twinkling eyes bearing into his soul. 

“Not even close, kitty~” She cooed, pointing her staff at him. He wasn’t stupid. He jumped out of the way and made it towards higher ground. 

“Hey, you could’ve caught me there!” 

“That was the point!” She bellowed. “My name is Estrella, and from this day forward all of you shall live as your signs! Let’s see, optimistic, charismatic, but still so arrogant and prideful. A typical leo!” 

Adrien laughed, “Gee, how’d you come to that conclusion, is it the cat motif?”

Estrella glared at him and pointed at her staff. He again, dodged. He leapt onto a building. Sitting with his knees up, hands in front of him, balanced against his staff, 

“Just saying, I’m actually a virgo~” 

Her eyes widened, face blending to a mix of fury and shock. Good, he needed to get her riled up. 

“Then.. then I’ll turn you into a maiden!” Her staff glowed brilliant but so did-

“Her barette, Chat, the akuma is in her barrette!” 

He looked up, and there she was in all of her glory. His bugaboo- his lady.. His Ladybug. He felt his heart swell in his chest, 

“Thanks! Got that figured out just now. How’re we gonna get it off?” He jumped over to her side as she stood defensively, swinging her yo-yo in a circle. He did the same with his staff. It’d deflect the potential blasts from the staff but Estrella looked distracted, staring intently at Ladybug.

She was probably analyzing her, he realized. He focused on the barette. It was a simple, but large thing. A jewel encrusted crescent moon. He could get it off, he just- 

“M’lady?”

“I’m thinking, Chat-”

He sighed. They didn’t have time to think, she could strike at any second. He stopped spinning his staff. He needed to distract her, and make a grab towards the accessory. Easy enough. 

“Say, what’s your star sign anyways?” He asked, stepping closer. 

Estrella glared, sending another beam his way. He dodged it easily, gaining more ground and getting closer to her. 

“Chatton!” 

“Hm, overly emotional, typical pisces, right?”

“Shut it! Stupid cat, what do you know about astrology?” 

“Enough to know you’re totally a pisces!” 

He heard Ladybug call for her lucky charm so he took his chance. He darted in a zig-zag pattern. If she aimed directly at him again he could jump up and snatch the barette without his cataclysm.

Except, Estrella didn’t point at him. No- 

She pointed her staff at the ground and the Earth exploded around him. His ears rang violently as he was sent flying.

Grab something, he told himself, grab something. His staff, he should grab his staff and stop himself by stabbing it into the ground. 

He tried, he made a bold attempt but another shock wave shook the ground the second he managed to get it to make impact against the cement. It was another wave of flying. Cats always land on their feet, right?

Wrong, perhaps this was the bad luck of the black cat, or just Adrien’s own shitty luck. He went flying through a building. He heard glass crashing around him and then…

And then.. 

Nothing… 

Dissolving to black. 

His ears stopped ringing. 

When he opened his eyes again, he was surrounded by a suffocating black abyss. The air around him felt thick. It was hard to breathe but after a while it became easier… and slower.

Moving around made him feel like he was underwater. He couldn’t tell what was behind or around him but he walked forward. 

A ripple formed around him as he walked, and it was like a curtain was pulled before his eyes. Inky darkness parted to reveal a starry night sky, twinking in vivid colors. 

Maybe he was hit with the akuma’s blast? Was he currently running around as a maiden holding wheat? Maybe that was why he was seeing so many stars.

He felt oddly at peace though. Maybe he shouldn’t fight it, or go back. Ladybug probably had it handled. 

What use was he anyways-... 

“Kid?”

Someone was calling for him. 

He felt himself looking up and around slowly. Who was calling?

“Adrien!” 

That name, right! That was his name! The underwater feeling left his body and his ears rang as his feet touched the ground. 

The floor clicked beneath him as he rose back up to his full height. 

“Hello?” he called into the starry darkness, stepping forward experimentally. “Hey- who’s there? Sorry for intruding I uh..don’t know how I got here?” 

A black blob metamorphosed before his very eyes, and two green eyes blinked up at him. 

“Plagg!?” 

“Oh thank god! You’re not supposed to be in here!” 

“What?”

Plagg waved his little arms around aggressively, “You need to get out of here before it consumes you!” 

“What ‘it’ are you even talking about? You’re not explaining anything!” 

“I can explain later, you- you need to listen for the sound of Ladybug’s voice!” 

Adrien rolled his eyes, but listened. He listened to the sounds of twinkling darkness around him and then.. He heard it, Ladybug’s voice, calling for him, 

“Chat, Chat Noir, please- wake up. Wake up!” 

Her voice. 

Calling for him. 

He closed his eyes again and his ears popped. Around him he could hear and feel a few things. He was flat against a cold floor, and sirens were blaring at a distance and- 

Ladybug. 

Ladybug, she was calling for him. 

He sat up quickly, taking in a sharp breath and shaking shards of glass from his hair. They fell to the ground in a twinkling mess and he turned, quickly, to Ladybug. 

Her mouth was dropped in a shocked O shape, her pretty.. Pretty bluebell eyes wider than saucers and red rimmed. Was she crying? 

“My Lady, don’t cry,” he said, reaching out to cup her face in his hand. “I’m okay- uhm- what happ-”

She seemed to come back to reality as her earrings beeped and she jumped away, 

“We’re talking about this on our next patrol, okay?”

He nodded, “O-okay! Uhm, Akuma?”

“Taken care of!” she yelled over her shoulder, sprinting out of what Adrien quickly realized was some sort of warehouse. Okay. Akuma taken care of and now he owed Ladybug a conversation about something so.. Weird? How was he supposed to talk about this? 

He’d figure it out before he spent the night with Chloe. He was going to have a long.. Long conversation with Plagg when he got home...


	2. Peach Scone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien and Chloe are good friends, really. After all, Adrien's about the only person that can really vibecheck her these days.

Adrien destransformed in the locker room, soaring through the same window he came from. His mind raced with questions, but he couldn’t supply himself with answers. Plagg said they would talk but there was certainly no time for that, or rather there wouldn’t be time for that. 

He raced out of the locker room and down the stairs, catching up with Kagami, 

“I couldn’t find them anywhere,” he said, out of breath. She put a hand on the small of his back while he breathed and she nodded. 

“They must’ve hidden, but you shouldn’t run off like that. You could get hurt, Adrien..”

He smiled at her, “Nah, it’s fine! I just hope they’re okay.” 

“I’m sure they will be, look,” she pointed and there they were, walking out of the hallway arm in arm. She was right, they were okay. Of course, he only used worrying about their safety as an excuse but.. 

Still, he was glad they were okay. He felt better when they actually walked out of the building, like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. He rubbed the back of his neck and Kagami nudged his side gently. 

“Make sure you eat well when you get home, we should get going.”

“Right, of course.”

Getting his stuff together didn’t take much time at all. He changed out of his fencing uniform and walked Kagami to her car quietly. They didn’t speak to one another but they walked shoulder to shoulder, fingertips brushing together lightly. 

“Text me when you get home,” he told her, smiling as he opened the door for her. Kagami smiled back, and nodded. 

“Of course. Stay well, Adrien.”

He closed the door behind her, and watched as the car drove off. He waved at Kagami from the rear view mirror and adjusted his fencing bag against his shoulder. 

Maybe it would be okay to start dating again, maybe. Before he felt like he hadn’t gotten himself together. He didn’t think he was ready for a relationship, and a couple months ago he really wasn’t ready. 

Maybe he was ready to try again. He’d think about it a little more, and then find the right way to ask Kagami out again, and make sure he did it right. 

Yeah, that sounded like a plan. He ran his fingers over his ring and smiled. 

“She was worried about you, y’know?” 

Adrien whirled around quickly, locking eyes with Ladybug and laughing nervously, 

“O-Oh, uhm- well- I uh- uhm, haha, it’s a funny story ah-” His face burned red hot. Hadn’t she gone off already? Why was she talking to him? Why was he still so nervous? He talked to her all the time as Chat Noir but as Adrien Agreste he felt like he was talking through a wad of cotton. 

Ladybug laughed and he felt his heart jump in his chest, turn around, Adrien. Turn around and hide because god you’re so flustered by her you can’t speak. He just stood there and laughed like an idiot with her. 

“I was actually looking for my friends- when the ground was all shaky they were both gone and I got worried that something happened. I know, i-it sounds ridiculous.”

“Well, I think it was a very brave thing to do. Next time just leave the saving to the heroes. I’m actually here to give you something that Marinette wanted to give you.”

Adrien blinked, completely dumbfounded, “Marinette wanted to give me something?” He pointed at himself and tilted his head. 

Ladybug nodded, “She had to help her parents with an event but she asked me to give this to you,” and she held out a box of macarons, passionfruit- his favorite. They looked amazing too, decorated in a clear box with a white bow around it. 

He shouldn’t- he had a shoot coming up, but if Marinette made them well- how could he say no? Adrien would take them, but he wouldn’t eat them. Maybe he’d put them in the freezer until he could actually enjoy them. 

He acted before his mental turmoil became too obvious, he smiled and took the box gingerly, tracing his fingers over the bow, “I’ll have to find a way to tell her thank you. I appreciate you delivering this to me, Ladybug.” 

“A-anytime, it’s always a pleasure, Adrien. It looks like your ride’s here so I’m just gonna,” she laughed nervously, swinging her yo-yo, “Go now, okay?”

He nodded, and brought his hand up to wave with his fingers, “Good bye..” 

He watched as she zipped through the sky, easily swinging onto a rooftop and making a mad dash out of his line of site. 

And god, did he sigh to himself as Gorilla and Nathalie pulled up. He made quick work of getting into the car, setting his fencing bag in first and closing the door once he himself was seated. 

He held the box of macarons in his lap, they were really beautiful. He wasn’t sure if Marinette made them or if her father did, either way, they looked incredibly good. He wished he could indulge himself in them. Maybe he will once the shoot is over, and once school starts back up. Yeah, that sounded like a plan. 

“Your father received a phone call from Mayor Bourgeois, you’ll be spending the night at Le Grand Paris,” Nathalie said, looking down at her tablet and adjusting her glasses. 

Chloe acted fast, huh? 

He nodded, “Of course, it sounds like it’ll be fun.”

“We went ahead and packed you a bag. It has everything you’ll need for tonight and tomorrow morning. You have a photoshoot in the park at noon. I’m assuming you can get there on time.”

“Yes, the walk will be nice,” he smiled, “Thank you for packing for me, Nathalie,” he found himself playing with his fingers on the drive there, peeling the skin around his cuticles while they talked. “It’s with the new photographer, right?”

“It is,” she said, rather plainly too. Adrien opened his mouth to speak but chose against it until he could gather a full thought. 

He tapped his fingers against the box of macarons and gazed through the window. “I heard talk last week of introducing a new type of modeling. Not just with my father’s brand but potentially others. Is that true?”

“It’s being talked about, yes, it’s important as a model to broaden the type of work you do. As far as we know, it might just be a few style changes and leaning more towards editorial work versus typical fashion work. It’ll make your portfolio stand out more.” 

Editorial work, he felt like he did a lot of that anyways. Not that he was complaining, he did enjoy modeling, it had just become more difficult recently.. Perhaps because of what D’Argencourt said, he was growing, maturing, growing older. 

“So, there’s probably going to be a focus on more ‘adult’ modeling, right?”

“Most likely.” 

“Sounds like fun,” he smiled but it didn’t feel real, not even to him. When he recognized that they were pulling into Le Grand Paris he went ahead and put the box of macarons in with his fencing bag, “I’ll go ahead and get my stuff from the trunk, thank you guys, again. See you after the shoot,” he smiled and waved through the rear-view mirror. He was glad to see both Nathalie and Gorilla wave and smile back, even if it was small. 

He closed the door and grabbed his bag out of the trunk. It was weird having no idea what they decided to back but he trusted them, he just severely doubted that they packed the fluffy pants Chloe wanted. He’d get them to her at a different time, he supposed. 

Speaking of Chloe, he looked up and there she was, standing on the steps of the hotel’s entrance in nothing but a buttercup yellow sweatshirt and light wash jeans. Sure, she was wearing slippers too but it was.. The least done up Adrien had ever seen her. 

It set off the alarm bells in his brain, and he tried to offer her the most comforting smile that he could. 

Her arms immediately opened up and he caught her lip wobble probably before she did and it took him less than a second to pull her into his arms. 

He had no idea what was wrong, not a single clue. All he knew was that she was upset- beyond upset, probably. 

She sniffled against his chest, huffing out a quiet sob. He rubbed her back and squeezed her shoulders silently. He didn’t know what he was supposed to say, really. 

“Adrien?”

“Yes?”

Chloe lifted her head up, and jabbed a finger in his chest, “Why are you out here in a t-shirt! It’s nearly freezing out,” she wiped her eyes and stamped her foot, taking him by the arm and dragging him inside before he could have a say so about anything really. 

It gave him whiplash, watching her go from what felt like impossibly sad to nearly fine. Maybe she was trying to throw him off, or shove down her own feelings.

He simply wasn’t going to let that happen. It was hard to read energy through a phone but standing by her, and being with her in person- she felt awful. 

Getting into the elevator up to her room was even more awkward. They stood there silently, and Adrien looked back at their reflections. Chloe had her arm crossed over her chest, thumbnail in her mouth, tapping her foot anxiously. 

“Do you have something to tell me Chloe?”

She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and looked down at the tile. The next floor bell dinged, they had a few more to go. 

“You’ll laugh at me.”

“I won’t.” 

Ding 

She sighed, running her fingers through her ponytail. 

“You look like you’re in a lot of pain. I don’t want to make you tell me but I want you to know that I’m here for you when you’re ready to talk about what’s on your mind.”

Chloe looked down at her shoes, then back up at their reflections, sighing. 

“You’ll think I’m ridiculous. I mean come on- you have to know what I did.”

He nodded, he had to assume it was in reference to what happened months ago.. Akumatized, Miracle Queen. He could remember it like it was yesterday but he chose not to, most of the time.

“I do..”

“And.. What if I told you, I regret.. Everything I did that day?” 

Ding

“Well,” Adrien started, “If you told me you regretted what you did. I think I would tell you that I’m proud of you for being able to feel that way, and that you have every reason to be regretful. But I think, I would also like to tell you that Hawkmoth likes to spin things in his favor, and he got you at your worst and multiplied it by quite a large amount. It wasn’t completely your fault, but I think you owe.. A lot of people an apology, and if you really regret what you did, I don’t think you’ll have a problem doing that.”

Chloe swallowed and they both stood there silently. Maybe Adrien was too harsh, but it was the truth. He knew how Chloe was, apologizing wasn’t her strong suit but.. 

“If you told me this, I would also be proud that you’re able to admit something like that to me, and that I’m glad you told me how you actually feel about it.”

Ding 

The elevator doors opened and Chloe scrubbed at her eyes, letting her shoulder bump against Adrien’s. 

“You always know the right things to say, damn you.” 

“Hah! I try, but seriously. I’m glad you told me about this, I know that we haven’t talked all that much until.. Recently,” he put his bags down on one of her many bedroom tables and watched her retie her ponytail, swinging it over her shoulder and smiling. 

“I know, finals were kind of crazy. I don’t think anyone was talking.” 

“Yeah,” Adrien certainly wasn’t. Between studying, and keeping up with all the akuma outbreaks, he didn’t talk to anyone unless he was at school, honestly. His schedule was always packed full up until the winter break started, and then it was rather barren. 

Maybe he really didn’t know how to operate unless he was busy to the gills. That was a thought to unpack later. 

They both stood in awkward silence for a minute, or at least it felt that way. Adrien put his arms behind his back and looked around. Her room hadn’t really changed that much since the last time he saw it. All of her Ladybug merchandise must’ve been taken down, which made sense. She was.. Rather upset after everything. So it made sense at the very least. 

“Also, no offense, but you need a shower. I’ll have food brought up but sheesh,” she pinched her nose and waved her hand around. 

And Adrien scoffed, digging through his overnight bag to find a change of clothes, and deodorant, anything else he might’ve needed. 

“Friendly reminder, I was just at fencing practice, y’know?”

Chloe shoved his shoulder and pushed him towards her bathroom, “Just go, you stink like cheese anyways.”

“Hey! Rude.”

“Shower!” She turned flippantly back to the elevator, “And don’t slip!” 

“I won’t!” 

As soon as the elevator doors closed he sighed, and plagg zipped out of his bag on his way into the bathroom, 

“You're out of your mind, you know that kid?”

“Really?” He closed the door behind him, “I’m the one out of my mind?”

“You’re spending the night with Chlo-”

Adrien put his hand up, “Not hearing it. We’ve been friends since we were little, it’s not that big of a deal. Besides, she really needs a friend right now.”

“Uh-huh..”

Adrien shut the door behind him and immediately turned the shower on, he set his stuff down and made it quick. Okay, so he’d come out of it smelling like a honeycomb, oh well. He’d live. At least Chloe wouldn’t nag him...

“You’re watching.”

“Listen, Adrien. We need to talk about what happened-”

“And we can talk about it later, okay? It can wait till tomorrow when I’m not busy.”

Plagg huffed and zipped away quickly, and Adrien heard the bathroom door creak open. 

“Chloe, I’m showering!” 

“I know I know! I’m not freakin’ looking at you I just- I just need to tell you something real quick.”

Adrien sighed, rinsed the conditioner out of his hair and stood in the shower’s hot spray. The bathroom had to be foggy by now. Was she just standing there?

Clink.

Nope, she was sitting on the toilet, okay. This was beyond awkward. He felt so exposed. 

“Okay, uhm- shoot, whenever you’re ready.”

She was quiet for another moment. He heard her shoes squeak against the tile. 

He kept quiet, running his fingers through his wet hair. What did she want to tell him? Was she gonna elaborate about the Ladybug issue? He had to act dumb about it, if he knew too much than it could expose him as Chat Noir. 

“I think I like Sabrina. Like.. really like her,” she said, “And more than just a best friend way. Everytime I think about her I just- I don’t know. I want the best for her, I want her to have everything she could ever want and I want to keep her safe from everything. It’s- ever since this stupid break started she’s all I can think about.”

“Hm,” Adrien hummed, “It sounds like you’re in love, right?” 

“LOVE?”

“Yeah, you’re describing love feelings. You know there’s nothing wrong with liking girls, right?” 

“How do you know that!?”

Adrien shrugged, “I dunno, Kagami likes girls and it’s really not that big of a deal. We can’t help who we like, Chloe. And if you like Sabrina well, you just like her. Why be mad about it?”

“Because what if she doesn’t like me how I like her?” 

“Well, you won’t really know until you ask,” he turned the water off, squeezing the water out of his hair and sticking his arm out from the shower curtain, “Can you hand me a towel real quick.”

“Oh yeah, here,” she handed him the towel and continued, “I just don’t know how to tell her yet, what if she thinks I’m a freak?”

“No offense, but you’ve done a lot of stuff that could classify you as a freak and she’s always been supportive of you no matter what. I don’t think Sabrina’s the type of person to think that of anyone, really.”

He toweled himself off inside the shower, and when he was mostly dry he tied the towel tightly around his waist, 

“But for what it’s worth, I think that telling her your feelings would be best. You’ll never know until you put them out for her to connect with, y’know?”

Chloe sighed, long and slow as she got up from the toilet, making her way out so Adrien could actually change in peace. 

“I guess. I really hate when you’re right, y’know that?”

Adrien grinned, “I know that.” 

She snorted and shut the door loudly behind her. 

Hell, she listened, and that was enough success for Adrien. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank u so much for reading! this chapter was rlly fun to right because i like bonding hehe.. and the content is italian chef kiss noise. not to toot my own horn. n e ways!! my twitter is ekaheida if u wanna follow me there for updates n things!! muah. thank u for the kind comments ;;

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading the first chapter of my second ML Fic! I recently moved over to twitter under my new alias ekaheida. pls feel free to follow me there for updates, snippets, and tag games! I hope u enjoyed <3 i do b lovin adrien doe..
> 
> also in case u didn't know. I name chapters off of the songs i listen too while writing. the first chapter's son is: Beachboy by MCCafferty if you wanna give it a listen!


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